Twisted
by Kayk12
Summary: My take on how "Boom" will go. Please read and review... Chapter 5 is up!
1. Chapter 1

Rick Castle watched in horror as Beckett's apartment burst into flames. He had been too late in warning her. The shock of the explosion had taken over his body and cemented his feet to the ground. It felt like hours before the realization hit him that Beckett might be hurt and that she might need help. He raced across the street and into the building, ignoring the crowds of people yelling at him to wait for the firefighters. He pushed past the people who were frantically trying to get out of the building, running up the four flights of stairs to her second floor apartment.

The door of her apartment had been blown off as a result of the bomb. He ran through the open doorway and was horrified at what he saw. There was almost nothing left of her apartment at all, he couldn't even begin to imagine the possessions she had lost.

"Beckett!" he called loudly, circling her living room quickly, looking for any sign of her.

"Kate, can you hear me?" he called again, coughing from the smoke. "Kate!"

"Castle! I'm in here! In the bathroom!" he heard a faint voice call.

He ran towards her bathroom, avoiding any wooden beams that were currently engulfed in flames.

He found Kate huddled in the corner in the bathroom in nothing but a towel. Had it been any other time he would have made some kind of smart ass comment but right now his first concern was getting her to safety. He noticed that she was cradling her arm and had blood running down her face.

"Come on," he said gently, coughing still from the smoke. "We've got to get you out of here."

He effortlessly scooped her up into his arms, holding her tightly against him. She started to cough and he could feel her trembling as he ran as quickly as he could with her in arms to the fresh air that awaited them outside.

He ran down the stairs, almost dropping her once and burst out the door. Both of them inhaled deeply allowing the cool New York air fill their lungs.

Within seconds, firefighters and paramedics were surrounding them, ushering them to the nearest ambulance. One of the firefighters offered to take Beckett from Castle but he refused to let go of her. He gently placed her down on the gurney the paramedics wheeled towards him but he still kept a tight hold on her hand, jogging along side the gurney as it was wheeled to the awaiting ambulance. He watched as one of the paramedics slipped an oxygen mask over her mouth while the other handed him one of his own.

He felt Beckett tug on his hand then and peered down at her, concern filling his eyes.

"Thanks, Rick," she said as she passed out.

"What's wrong with her?" Rick asked, frantically as the lifted the gurney into the ambulance.

"She's going to be fine," one of the paramedics answered as he watched Castle try to climb into the ambulance after Beckett. "But you can't come with her."

"If you think I'm leaving her, you're wrong. I'm coming with her whether you like it or not," he responded coolly, daring the paramedic to challenge him again.

The paramedic sighed. "Fine, but don't get in our way."

Castle climbed into the back of the ambulance and was jolted against the metal side as he felt the driver pull away from the flaming apartment. He reached for Beckett's hand once more, willing her to open her eyes so that he knew she was ok.

"Which hospital are we going to?" Castle asked.

"St. Vincent's," responded one of the paramedics as he monitored Beckett's vitals.

Castle turned to Beckett again and watched as her eye lids fluttered once, then twice until finally she opened her eyes.

"Kate!" he exclaimed.

The paramedic, alerted by Castle's out burst that Beckett was awake, moved over to her side and began asking her questions.

"Miss Beckett, do you know where you are?" he asked.

"It's Detective Beckett," Castle said interrupting and saw the paramedic shoot him a glare. He glanced down at Beckett and saw a small smile appear on her face.

"I'm in an ambulance," Beckett said hoarsely.

"Do you remember what happened, Detective?"

"My apartment exploded. There was a bomb." Castle watched as her eyes widened. "Castle! He's still alive! We have to go tell the others!"

"Shh," he whispered. "It's already taken care of. My mother called Montgomery when I came to get you."

Beckett seemed content with that for a minute.

She suddenly sat up, startling both Castle and the paramedic.

"I need to go help them. I need to get out of here, they'll need my help."

"No," Castle said firmly.

Beckett recognized it as the same tone he had used when he had told her he wasn't leaving her apartment and had slept on her couch. To protect her, he had said. That was the first time he had ever spoken to her like that and she had been at a loss for words, leaving her no other option but to listen to him. And now again the tone was back and she had no choice but to listen to him, knowing deep down that he was right.

"You're going to go get checked out at the hospital and then we'll see what happens," he said more gently.

Beckett lay back down on the gurney, staring up at the ceiling and allowed her thoughts to drift back to the way she had felt in Castle's arms.


	2. Aftermath

Kate's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Castle's cell phone ringing. She knew by the ring tone exactly who it was.

"Hi, pumpkin," Castle said into the phone.

"Dad! Are you ok? And Kate, I mean Detective Beckett, is she ok? We saw you guys on the news," Alexis said all in one breath.

"Slow down, sweetie! I'm going to put you on speaker, hold on."

"Dad! You didn't answer my questions!" Alexis' voice filled the ambulance. "Is Detective Beckett ok?"

Kate could hear the worry in Alexis' voice and it touched her to know that Castle's daughter was that concerned for her well being. It surprised her at how close Alexis and her had become over the period that Castle had been shadowing her and even more surprising was how Castle had told her that Alexis looked up to her.

"Hey, Alexis," Kate croaked, her throat still stinging from the smoke.

"Kate! Oh, thank god! I'm so glad your ok!"

Kate felt an unusual rush of emotion and tried to blink back the tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She never cried in front of people.

Castle gently squeezed her hand giving her a reassuring smile.

"You can thank your father for that, Alexis. He's the one who came and got me out," Kate replied returning Castle's smile.

"You did what, Dad? You know if you had gone running into a burning building for anyone else I would be absolutely furious with you right now but because it's Detective Beckett we're talking about that's a totally different story. That and you probably owe her over a hundred times for saving your own life,"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Castle said although he had a smile on his face.

"I think it means that you now only owe me ninety nine more times, Castle," Kate answered with a laugh.

They heard Alexis giggle. "I am really glad that you guys are ok. Which hospital are you going to?"

"St. Vincent's and we actually just pulled up so I've got to go, pumpkin. Kate needs to get checked out."

"Ok, Gram and I are going to come down there. We'll see you soon. Love you!"

"Love you too, sweetie."

The ambulance pulled up to the hospital and the paramedics quickly wheeled Kate inside with Castle in tow.

"Well, Detective, looks like you have minor smoke inhalation and a sprained wrist. You should consider yourself pretty lucky. However, you will have to take it easy for a few days," said that Doctor.

Kate started to protest but the Doctor held up his hand.

"I know you are working on some kind of case right now, your Captain filled me in and warned me that you would put up a fight. So I'm just going to say this. As long as you don't physically exert yourself, you can go back to work."

"Thank you, Doctor. And you said my Captain filled you in?"

"Yes, there's a bunch of people waiting outside in the hall right now. Did you want to see them?"

Kate nodded.

Kate's eyes widened as Castle, Alexis, Martha, Montgomery, Esposito, Ryan and Lanie all piled into her room.

Hugs were exchanged and soon laughter filled her room and it felt like old times.

The carefree attitude in the room suddenly turned serious when Esposito and Ryan started filling Beckett in on what happened.

"We called Agent Shaw as soon as we heard that we had got the wrong guy. Her team is still at your apartment sifting through the mess but they've determined that the bomb was set right outside your apartment door. It was similar to the one that we found in Conrad's apartment. Everyone was surprised that you managed to get out ok," Esposito finished quietly.

Beckett looked towards Castle who as usual had been staring at her. She didn't know how she would ever be able to thank him for saving her life.

"If it wasn't for Castle I wouldn't have made it out," she began quietly. "I had been in the shower and had left my phone out on the table across from the door. I heard it ringing from the bathroom and went to grab it. I was still standing right by my front door when Castle was yelling in my ear that the real killer was still out there. The last thing I remember is hearing that awful recording and running for the bathroom. I must have blacked out for a moment because the next thing I remember is hearing Castle screaming my name and then us making our way outside," Beckett said softly.

The room was silent for a few minutes.

"How did everyone get to my apartment so quickly?" asked Beckett.

Castle spoke up. "I had tried calling you from my house first. When you didn't pick up I asked my mother to call Montgomery at the precinct and I made my way to your place."

"Ryan and Esposito were still at the precinct when I received the call," added Montgomery. "So, naturally we sent everyone we could spare over to you. We didn't know what the guy was planning but we knew it was something big. So, all the units were already making there way over to you before the bomb went off."

"And once we got there we called Agent Shaw," Ryan added.

"Thanks, guys," Kate said looking around the room. This was her family and she knew that each and every one of them had her back.

"Sorry to interrupt," the Doctor said poking his head into the room. "But I just wanted to let Detective Beckett that we have her discharge papers all done up and ready to go."

"So I can leave?" Kate asked, hopefully.

"You may leave, Detective, but remember what I said about taking it easy."

"Ok, thank you again, Doctor."

"I'll go take care of those papers for you, Kate," said Lanie.

Once Lanie had left the room Montgomery spoke up again.

"Given the circumstances, Beckett, we need to find some place safe for you to stay. This guy is fixated on you and once he finds out that you're still alive he may try and come after you again."

"There are a couple hotels close to the precinct that I could stay at," Beckett said slowly.

"A hotel, Beckett?" Castle said. "This guy got into your apartment building. You really don't think he could get into a hotel?"

"Do you have a better idea, Castle," Beckett said glaring at him.

He glanced at Alexis before answering and saw her nod her head slightly. She really was her father's daughter.

"Come stay with us," he began but Beckett cut him off.

"Castle, I can't stay with you. I'll ask Lanie if I can stay with her or something."

Castle then turned to the Captain. "Captain, my building has the best security in the whole city. Plus, I have extra body guards on my floor to keep an eye on things. I have the room and the means to keep her safe."

"Beckett, I'm going to have to agree with Castle. Our first priority is keeping you safe and you can't beat personal security."

"But, sir," she protested.

"Kate," Alexis suddenly spoke up and all eyes turned to the youngest in the room. "Please, come and stay with us. We have the extra room and we would love to have you. Everybody in this room is concerned for your safety and nobody wants to think about what would have happened had that psycho succeeded. Please don't give him another chance. Plus, my dad does make amazing pancakes for breakfast!"

Everyone laughed. Kate looked at Alexis and then at Castle who was doing his best puppy eyes expression.

"Fine," Kate said. "But I will be expecting those pancakes!"

Castle laughed and watched as Alexis leaned in to hug Beckett.

"Thank you for making that very hard for me to turn down," Kate whispered teasingly to Alexis before she pulled away.

Alexis just smiled at her before turning to her father. "Dad, you better promise her there's going to be pancakes or else I'm going where she goes."

"Me too," said Martha suddenly.

Castle chuckled. "I promise you that there will be pancakes," he said staring directly at Beckett.

"Ok. If you guys don't mind, I'm just going to get changed and then I'll be ready to go," Beckett said to everyone in the room.

Everyone, except Lanie who had come back with Beckett's discharge papers, left the room to give Beckett some privacy.

"Wow," Lanie exclaimed when everyone was gone. "That girl is hard to turn down."

Kate glanced at Lanie quickly with a small smile playing on her lips.

"Tell me about it."

_Thank you all for the reviews! I'm hoping that I can finish this before the new episode! Please tell me what you think so far, it's much appreciated!_


	3. Home?

When Kate was finally ready she and Lanie made their way to the hospital waiting room where they found Castle lounging in a very uncomfortable looking chair.

"Where's everybody else?" Beckett asked.

"Mother and Alexis went back to the loft and everybody else went back to the precinct. They said to tell you that they would stop by tomorrow and fill you in on everything."

"Ok, I guess I'm ready to go then."

"And I'm going to head back to the morgue," Lanie said stepping toward Kate and giving her a hug. "I'm glad you're ok, girl. And you Mr. Castle, you take good care of her now."

"I will, Lanie. And feel free to stop by tomorrow, say around 7?"

"Sounds good, I'll see you then," she said as she turned with a wave and walked out the door.

"You invited everyone over tomorrow, didn't you?" Kate asked once they were alone.

"Maybe I did," Castle said looking down at her.

Kate sighed. "Ok, Mr. Castle, let's get going."

The drive to Castle's loft was uneventful. Kate was exhausted and all she wanted to do once she got to the loft was curl up and go to sleep.

They walked into the loft to find Alexis and Martha waiting for them.

"Hey, pumpkin, I thought you would have gone to bed already," Castle said as he shut the door.

"I waited up so that I could say goodnight to you," Alexis responded as she walked up to her father and gave him a hug.

"Goodnight, sweetie," Castle said as he gave her a kiss on the forehead.

Kate was surprised when Alexis then turned and threw her arms around her. She quickly recovered and gave Alexis a tight squeeze.

"Goodnight, Alexis," she said.

"Night, Kate. I'll see you tomorrow morning at breakfast," she said as she winked at her father.

Kate laughed. "Yes, you will."

"Come on," Castle said as they heard Alexis shut the door to her room. "I'll show you to your room."

They walked up the stairs in silence and turned down a hallway that Kate had never been down before.

"This is your room," Castle said as he pushed open the door.

Kate looked around the room. It was definitely bigger then her own room had been and the bed looked pretty comfortable. She wandered over to the adjoining bathroom and peered into it. There was a large Jacuzzi tub in the corner and a huge glass shower. She also noticed that someone, probably Alexis, had set out a toothbrush and a stack of plush towels for her. This was way better than staying in a hotel she decided.

She turned to find Castle staring at her.

"I guess I'm going to have to go shopping tomorrow," Kate said suddenly realizing that she had no clothes to wear. The guys had brought her an NYPD jacket, t-shirt and pair of sweat pants to put on at the hospital but at the moment that was everything she owned.

"I'll be right back," Castle said quickly.

When he came back he found Kate sitting on the bed.

"Here," he said as he handed her a stack of clothes. "I thought you might need something to wear to bed."

She looked down at the clothes he had handed her and noticed that they were a pair of his own sweat pants and a t-shirt.

She smiled slightly. "Thanks, Castle."

He returned her smile and then made his way over to the door.

"I'll let you get to bed, I'm sure you're exhausted. If you need anything my room is right down the hall," he said as he winked at her.

She laughed. "In your dreams."

"Always," he replied with a twinkle in his eye as he turned to walk out the door.

"Castle," Kate called softly as she walked towards the door. He stepped into the room again. "I just wanted to say thank you, for you know, saving my life. I don't know how I'll ever repay you."

He stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her pulling her into him. She froze for a minute before she let her body relax as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You don't have to thank me," he whispered into her ear. "I'd do it again in an instant. Not that I want you to ever been in that kind of a situation again but you know what I mean."

She laughed softly. "Yes, I know what you mean." She pulled back slightly and stood on her tip toes, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Night, Rick," she said pulling away from him with a shy smile.

"Night," he said quietly as he backed out of her room and shut the door. He walked slowly back to his bedroom with a smiling playing on his lips. She had looked so cute after she had kissed him and it had taken him all his will power not to pull her into his arms again.

He'd meant what he said about saving her life again in an instant. The fact that he was willing to risk his own life on more than one occasion for a woman, other than his daughter and mother of course, could only mean one thing. He was falling in love with Kate Beckett and surprisingly that thought didn't scare him.

He glanced at the clock as he walked into his bedroom. It was almost midnight. He knew that if he were going to get up and make breakfast in the morning, he would have to get to bed soon. He slid under his covers and with the image of Kate's smiling face in mind, he fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Kate had changed into the clothes Castle had given her, trying not to notice how much they smelled like him. She thought back to when he had pulled her into his arms and how her stomach had fluttered. No, she couldn't have feelings for him. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. _Then why did I kiss him?? _Oh god, she did have feelings for him. But he obviously had feelings for her too. She knew she was going to give herself a headache if she kept thinking about him so she climbed underneath the covers of her new bed and closed her eyes thinking about anything but him and slowly she fell asleep.

A few hours later Castle was woken up by a loud high-pitched scream coming from down the hall.

He quickly jumped out of his bed and opened his bedroom door. He saw Alexis standing in the hallway looking worriedly at him.

"It's ok, sweetie, I've got this. Go back to bed."

She shot him one more worried glance before making her way back to her own bedroom.

Castle stood outside Kate's door debating whether he should knock or just go in. Knowing that he would probably just get sent away if he knocked he quietly opened the door and stepped into the bedroom, closing the door softly behind him.

One of the bedside lamps had been turned on and he saw Kate sitting on the edge of the bed her head in her hands. He walked quickly over to her, sat down beside her and pulled her into his arms. She was shaking and he could tell that she was crying.

"Hey," he said softly as he rubbed her back. "It's ok, you're ok."

"I was back in the fire," she whispered through her tears. "This time I didn't get out."

"It's ok, it was just a nightmare. You got out, you're safe."

She was leaning against him now, her tears slowly subsiding. "I know," she said quietly, looking him directly in the eye.

She slowly got up and walked to the bathroom where Castle heard the water turn on. He didn't know whether he should go or stay. When she came back out she made no indication that she wanted him to leave.

She climbed back into the bed and Castle pulled the blankets around her, tucking her in. He slowly got up but she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Castle, do you think you could stay with me until I fall asleep?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," he responded and walked to the other side of the bed lying down on top of the blankets beside her.

"If you tell anyone about this," she began.

"Shh," he said. "I'm not going to say anything. I know you'd shoot me."

She chuckled and turned on her side so she was facing him.

"You know, if you're going to fall asleep again, you have to turn off the light," he said as he reached out and brushed a piece of hair out of her face.

"I know," she said but didn't move to turn the lamp off.

"I know you're scared," Castle said slowly. "But I'll be right here."

Kate slowly turned and reached for the light switch. The room became pitch black.

"See, still here," Castle joked.

She laughed quietly again.

"Now, close your eyes," Castle said softly and Kate could feel his breath on her. She couldn't see him but she knew he was close to her. "Your eyes aren't closed."

"They are too!"

"Are not!"

"Fine, they are now. Happy?"

"Yes," he said.

Within twenty minutes, Castle could tell by her breathing that she had fallen asleep. He lay there for a few minutes longer, his own eyes closed, knowing that if he didn't get up soon that he would fall asleep there too and Kate would probably kill him in the morning. That was the last thing he remembered thinking before he drifted off to sleep.

Kate woke a few hours later with her face pressed against something firm. She opened her eyes and noticed that the thing her face was pressed against was breathing. She recognized the t-shirt as the one Castle had been wearing last night when he had come and comforted her after her nightmare. She then realized that his arm was around her waist holding her to him. Kate didn't know what to do. On one hand she was comfortable and didn't really feel like moving and on the other, this was Castle! Against her better judgement she closed her eyes again and relaxed against Castle's body.

It wasn't long before Castle woke up himself and realized what kind of position he was in. Kate stayed still, pretending she was still asleep, waiting to see what Castle would do. She felt him slowly remove his arm from her and sit up, moving in a way as to not disturb her. She knew that he was watching her because he had yet to get off the bed. She concentrated on keeping her breathing even as to not tip him off that she was actually awake. She was shocked when she felt his lips brush against her forehead and had to force her eyes to stay shut. She felt him get off the bed slowly and heard his soft footsteps going towards the door.

She decided she could have a little fun with this. "I'm awake you know," she said loudly enough for Castle to hear.

She opened one eye just in time to see Castle freeze near the door and slowly turn around.

"I didn't mean to fall asleep, I swear," he began as he saw her throw the covers off and walk towards him a glint in her eye.

Instead of stopping in front of him, she bypassed him and opened the door.

"Come on," she said turning with a smile on her face. "You promised me pancakes."

Castle's jaw dropped as he watched her walk out of the room and down the hallway towards the kitchen. He couldn't believe she had actually let him get away with something like that.

_Thanks for the reviews!! Next chapter will be more about the person behind the bomb in Beckett's apartment! Thanks for reading! Please review as always!_


	4. The Call

Alexis awoke early the next morning as usual and sleepily made her way to the kitchen. Instead of hearing the quiet clatter of her father taking out pots and pans she heard him and Kate bickering back and forth.

"Why did you put the egg in already?" she heard Castle say to Kate.

"Because it says one egg," Kate had replied.

"Yes, I know that. But you're not supposed to put it in yet! You're supposed to put everything into the bowl in a certain order!"

"What's the difference? It's all going into the bowl eventually!"

Alexis continued to eavesdrop. She was glad that Kate was there and she secretly hoped that her father and Kate would get together soon. Everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later.

"Hey! What was that for?" she heard her father exclaim.

"What, Castle?" Kate replied innocently.

"I'm going to get you!" she heard her father laugh evilly and Kate shriek.

Then she heard their laughter. She was surprised that she hadn't heard Kate utter any threats to her father yet.

"Look at us, Rick," she heard Kate say in between them laughing.

_Rick?? Since when does Kate call my dad Rick??_ Alexis thought.

"We are a sight to see, aren't we?" she heard her dad chuckle. "I could help you wash it off if you like?"

Alexis cleared her throat as she stepped into the kitchen.

"Good morning," she said cheerfully.

They were a sight to see alright. Both of them were covered head to toe in flour, Kate was leaning up against the kitchen counter and her dad was standing in front of her. Both had been smiling at each other until she walked in the room.

"Morning, sweetie," Castle said as he hastily took a step back from Kate. "We were, uh, just making pancakes."

"I can see that," Alexis giggled.

"Morning, Alexis," Kate said, still slightly embarrassed about the position her and Castle had been caught in. She was sure Castle would have kissed her had his daughter not walked in and Kate wasn't sure if she felt relieved at Alexis' timing or disappointed.

"Good morning, Kate! How are you feeling today?"

"Much better, thanks! I'm sorry if I woke you up last night."

"No big deal," Alexis said, brushing it off and catching her dad's grateful smile. "We all have nightmares. So, are these pancakes going to be done anytime soon or what, Dad?"

"Well they would have been done already," Castle began shooting a glance at Kate who smiled innocently back at him. "But someone decided to dumb a bowl of flour on my head!"

"It slipped," Kate said as she winked at Alexis.

Alexis giggled. "Why don't we let Kate take a shower and we'll finish the pancakes," she said turning to her dad.

"Sounds good to me," Castle said turning to look at Kate.

"A shower would be great right now," Kate answered and started to make her way towards the stairs. "Um, Castle, I don't have any clean clothes."

"I have some yoga pants that would fit you, Kate, if you like?" Alexis piped up. "Except I don't think my shirts would fit you."

"That's ok," Castle said, quickly. "Just grab a shirt out of my closet."

"Thanks," she said as she and Alexis made their way upstairs. "I've really got to go shopping today," she said to the girl as she handed her the yoga pants."

"Oo, can I come with you?" Alexis asked.

Kate smiled at her. "Of course. And thanks for these," she said holding up the yoga pants.

"No problem," Alexis said as she made her way downstairs. "And hopefully there'll be some pancakes when you come out!"

She heard Kate laugh.

Kate walked into Castle's bedroom and looked around, amazed at what she saw. His room was incredibly clean, not something she expected from him. There were no clothes on the floor and everything looked as if it had a place. She also noticed all the pictures around the room. Many of them were of Alexis at different ages. However, one in particular caught her eye. It had been taken at the Heat Wave book launch party. Even though they had been mad at each other neither of them could turn Alexis down when she asked them to take a picture with her. And there it was framed in his bedroom, Castle with one arm around Kate's waist and the other around Alexis, all three of them smiling brightly for the camera. Kate felt her stomach flutter again. She smiled as she set the picture back down and wandered over to Castle's expansive closet. She picked out a worn looking dress shirt and walked back to her own room and into the bathroom.

She turned on the hot water in the shower relishing in the feel of it against her body. She quickly washed her hair and body and stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in one of the plush towels that had been left for her. She walked over to the mirror and started towel drying her hair, pulling open the drawer in the bathroom vanity by reflex. She was surprised to find a brand new brush, some hair products and some make up inside the drawer. She would have to remember to thank Alexis later, that girl was a life saver.

She quickly brushed her hair and put in back into a loose ponytail, letting a few strands fall alongside her face. She put on some light makeup, something she seemed to be doing more and more of these days and changed into Alexis' pants and the shirt she had gotten from Castle's closet. The pants fit her perfectly but the shirt was, obviously, way too big. She rolled up the sleeves to just above her elbow and glanced once more in the mirror before grabbing her cell phone and mother's ring, the only things she'd saved from her apartment, and headed back downstairs.

She made her way to the kitchen where she found Alexis already eating some pancakes and Castle putting the rest on to a plate.

"Hey, Kate, grab a seat," said Alexis.

"Here are your pancakes as," Castle trailed off when he glanced up at Kate, his mouth hanging open slightly.

Alexis looked between her father and Kate, not fully understanding what was going on.

Kate looked Castle in the eye and smirked slightly. "You're staring, Castle."

"Mhmm," she heard him say.

"Well stop," she said.

"Yeah, Dad, what's wrong with you," Alexis said, looking at him strangely.

"Nothing, nothing at all, sweetie," he said. "Here are your pancakes, Kate."

"Thanks," she said taking a bite. "Mm, these are really good."

"Told you!" Alexis said smiling at Kate.

The rest of their breakfast went by smoothly, although Castle kept shooting Kate glances thinking that she didn't notice.

"Well, I'm going to go shower and get ready," Alexis said, standing up and taking her plates to the sink. "I'll be about half an hour or so, is that ok, Kate?"

"Sounds good to me," she said smiling at Alexis.

Both her and Castle watched as Alexis ran up the stairs, a bounce in her step.

"She really likes you, you know?" Castle said turning to Kate who had made her way to the sink.

"And I really like her too," she said a smile crossing her lips.

"I heard you girls are going shopping."

"We are," she said slowly.

"Are you sure you want to? I mean, you look pretty good in my clothes," he said teasingly as he took a step towards her.

"Very funny, Rick," she said as she put a hand on his chest to stop him from moving any closer. "Where's Martha?"

"Out with Chet," he answered. "She'll be back sometime later."

They both stared at each other, neither knowing what to say.

"I just want to thank you," Castle began.

"For what," Kate said confused.

"For letting Alexis go shopping with you, she's really excited about it."

"I'm sure we're going to have a great time," Kate said looking up at Castle with a smile.

"Well, I'm going to take a shower. I still have all that flour in my hair thanks to you! But before I forget here's my credit card,"

"Castle, I don't need your money," Kate said pushing the card back to him.

"I never said you needed my money but how do you expect to pay for the things you're going to buy?"

"I have my own money, Castle!"

"No, I know that! But the last time I checked the only things that you were able to bring out of your apartment were your mom's ring and your cell phone."

"Oh my god, I didn't even think about that. I have to call my bank and get them to send me new cards and everything. And my license, my badge, my guns," Kate trailed off.

"I think the Captain has already taken care of your badge and gun issue. He mentioned something at the hospital yesterday that he would be bringing them with him tonight. He said you wouldn't know what to do with yourself, if you couldn't threaten to shoot me," he finished, sending her a teasing smile.

"So far, you haven't really done anything to warrant that kind of threat," she said softly, not meeting his eyes.

He reached for her and squeezed, smiling down at her. Her phone started to ring just then, startling them both. She reached for it across the counter with her free hand, her other one still held tight in Castle's grasp.

She glanced at the caller I.D. quickly, not recognizing it, before picking it up.

"Beckett," she said all business now.

"Hello there, Detective, how are you feeling today?"

"Who is this?" she asked.

Castle gave her a questioning look.

"It doesn't matter who I am, my dear Detective. What matters is that you're here, talking to me right now when you should been killed in that lovely explosion last night."

Her eyes widened and she motioned for Castle to follow her as she ran to his fridge grabbing Alexis' reminder whiteboard and wrote: Call precinct, trace my phone.

Castle looked at her worriedly but grabbed the phone dialing Esposito. He spoke quickly and quietly then gave Kate the thumbs up letting her know that they were tracing the call back at the precinct.

She nodded.

"Well, I guess you didn't do a very good job with your bomb if I'm still here," she said.

"No, you're still here because Richard Castle came to your rescue. How fitting, don't you think? Richard Castle rescues his real life Nikki Heat. He wouldn't even let the firefighters help him carry you out. But don't you worry; he won't always be around to come to your rescue.

"If you hurt him," she began but the caller cut her off.

"Oh, no, dear Detective, that's not part of plan. You'll just have to wait and see. Catch me if you can, I dare you.

Kate heard a click and she knew that they would have never traced the call in that amount of time.

"Are you ok? Who was that and what did they want?" Castle asked trying to stay calm but not succeeding.

"He dared me to catch him," she said slowly. "He said how fitting it was that you saved me."

"How does he know that it was me who saved you?" Castle asked curiously.

But Kate wasn't listening, she was thinking about something the guy had said.

"That night did the firefighters try and take me away from you?" she asked suddenly.

Castle thought for a minute. "Yeah, why?"

"The guy, he knew that. He wouldn't have known that –"

"Unless he was there," Castle finished.

"And Alexis said that it was being shown on the news," Kate said stepping closer to Castle.

"We need to get those tapes."

"Castle, we need to go to the precinct," Kate said quickly.

He held up his hand. "You're not going anywhere, Kate."

"Castle, this is the lead that we need to catch this psycho!"

"I know, and that's the point. He's baiting you, he wants you to come out so that he can have another chance and I'm not going to let that happen.

"Castle!"

"No, Kate! You don't even have a gun right now!"

"I may not but you do," she said knowing that she had him.

"How did you know that?" he exclaimed.

"Rick, I'm a Detective! So go get it and let's go."

"No, you are staying here. We'll get Ryan and Esposito to bring the tapes here. And you can look at them here."

"You guys fight like you're married," Alexis said as she walked down the stairs, smirking. "And for once in his life Dad's right, Kate, it sounds like a trap."

"What do you mean for once in my life?" Castle said turning to look at his daughter.

Kate had to laugh at that. Deep down she knew that Castle was right even though she wasn't willing to admit it.

"Hey, you should be happy, Dad, if you were arguing about anything else I would be siding with Kate right now."

Castle turned to Kate with a smile. "You've turned my own daughter against me!"

Kate smiled up at him. She found herself doing that more often since she'd been spending so much time with him and his family.

"Just call the guys and tell them to get their butts over here with those tapes," she said still trying to sound annoyed.

"Thank you," Castle said leaning down to kiss her cheek before whipping out his cell phone and calling Esposito again.

Kate looked back at Castle shocked before wandering over to the couch and sitting next to Alexis.

"I'm sorry we can't go shopping," she said turning to Alexis.

"Oh, don't worry, we still can," Alexis said.

"But your father won't let me leave the house."

"We can still shop online!" Alexis said and Kate laughed.

"Alright, let's go find your dad's credit card," Kate said laughing still.

When Castle got off the phone he found Kate and Alexis sitting on the couch looking at clothes on the computer.

"What are you girls doing?" he asked, peeking over Kate's shoulder to see what they were looking at.

"We're shopping," Alexis answered.

"Oo, I like that," Castle said snatching the mouse away from Kate and clicking 'Buy' on a low cut red sweater.

"Castle!"

"Yes?" he asked sweetly.

"When are Esposito and Ryan getting here?"

"They said they've got their hands on the majority of the tapes and they'll be here in half an hour."

"Good, does Agent Shaw know about this?"

"Not as far as I know."

"Who's Agent Shaw?" Alexis asked.

"Just an F.B.I. lady that Kate doesn't like," Castle said turning to his daughter.

Kate reached out and flicked his ear hard.

"Ouch, what was that for?"

"Get out of here, Castle, we're shopping!"

"Fine," he said giving Kate a light squeeze on the shoulder. "I'll be in the shower. Esposito and Ryan will call up when they get here. I'll be no more than twenty minutes."

"Mhmm," muttered Alexis and Kate together. They were both too wrapped up in the clothes they were looking at to care.

Castle smiled as he made his way upstairs thinking about how perfect Kate fit in with his family.

_Thank you all again for the reviews! I hope you enjoy this chapter! I have only one maybe two left to go and I'm hoping I'll have them up before tomorrow's episode! Please read and review!_


	5. Betrayal

Twenty minutes later Castle made his way downstairs to find Alexis and Kate still on the computer.

"Dad," Alexis called. "We're trying to put this order through but it's not working."

"Just send a copy of your to my email and I'll take care of it," he responded with a smug smile.

His phone beeped alerting him that he had a new email.

"Ah, I see you decided to keep that red sweater on the list after all, Kate," he said teasingly.

"Shut up and work your magic, Castle!" she responded, glaring at him. Secretly she had liked the sweater he had picked out; he did have pretty good taste.

He smiled back at her before dialing the number to the department store.

"Hi, Carol, it's Rick Castle," Alexis and Kate heard him say. "I'm fine, thanks, and you? Excellent! I just sent you an order and I was wondering if I could get that by this afternoon; it's kind of an emergency. Yes, just charge it to my credit card. Thank you very much! Talk to you soon!"

He hung up the phone and then turned to look at them once more. "There you'll have your clothes by this afternoon and you don't even have to leave the house."

"Yep," he said smiling.

"Wow, so this is how the other half lives."

"Not all the time," Alexis piped up. "Personally, I'd rather go to the store and try stuff on but sometimes, like before one of Dad's book launches, it's a little impossible."

Just then they heard the doorbell ring and Castle went to open it.

"Hey, guys," he said pulling the door open to reveal Ryan and Esposito. "I thought you were going to call when you got here."

"Yeah, sorry, we forgot. We can't stay long, Shaw knows something is up."

Hearing the boys at the front door Kate and Alexis got up to greet them.

"Hey, boys," Kate said going to stand next to Castle.

The expressions on the boys face's were priceless as they looked Kate over, clearly amused.

"So, Beckett, why you wearing Castle's shirt?" Esposito said smirking at her.

"Well, Esposito, in case you've forgotten, my apartment blew up and I'm sure all of my clothes are burnt to a crisp," she said clearly not amused.

"We're just teasing, Beckett," Ryan said offering her a wide smile.

"Yeah, yeah, where are the tapes?"

"Right here," Esposito said handing her a bag. "We'll let you watch them, we've gotta get back before Agent Shaw comes looking for us."

"Yeah, but we'll see you later. Still seven, Castle?"

"Still seven," he said as he shut the door behind them.

"Come on," Kate said eagerly. "Let's see what's on these tapes."

They sat and watched the tapes for over three hours but they couldn't pick out anybody suspicious. All they saw were the worried faces of Esposito, Ryan and Captain Montgomery. As well as a surprised looking Agent Shaw and the rest of her team as Kate was loaded into the ambulance.

"So much for that," Kate said bitterly just as her phone rang.

"Beckett," she said into the phone.

"Detective, it's Agent Shaw."

"What can I do for you, Agent," Kate said rolling her eyes at Castle while Alexis sat watching the conversation unfold in silence.

"Why did Esposito and Ryan bring you the news casts tapes of the fire?"

"Because I thought there would be something useful on them," Kate answered, evenly.

"And you didn't think I deserved to know," answered Agent Shaw.

"I would have told you had I found anything."

"Right. You are officially off this case, Detective."

"You can't do that, I'm right in the middle of this case," Kate said starting to get angry.

"I need people on my team who I can trust, not people who go behind my back with their own ideas. And yes, you're right, you are in the middle of this which is another reason why you should have been removed from the start!"

"You just want this case to be your collar, another serial killer to add to your little list, isn't it Agent?" Kate said coldly into the phone, Castle staring at her with wide eyes.

The agent laughed. "Little list, Detective, I think not. You have a nice day now."

Kate looked furious as she closed her phone.

"Can you believe it?" she said turning to Castle. "She took me off the case!"

"I don't know what to tell you, Kate."

"Do you think I should be off this case?" Kate said directing her anger towards Castle. "You seemed to think her ideas were good ones."

"No," Castle said evenly. "I don't think you should be off this case. I think that you being in the middle of it makes you even more determined to catch the psycho who's after you. I think Agent Shaw made a very bad call and she'll find that out eventually when she needs you."

Kate's eyes softened. "Thanks," Kate said quietly.

"So, what do you say we make some lunch?" Alexis asked smiling between the two of them like nothing had happened.

A few hours later all three of them were lounging on the couch watching a movie they had found on T.V. when the doorbell rang. Castle got up to answer it.

"Whoa," he said when he pulled open the door and noticed all the bags one of his doormen had brought up. "That's a lot of clothes."

Both Kate and Alexis had heard his exclamation and rushed to the door, both eager to see their new clothes.

They both laughed as they watched Castle, still shaking his head, sign for all of the packages.

"Thanks," he said to the doorman. "Well, we better get all these bags upstairs," he said as he turned to Kate and Alexis. "People will be arriving in about two hours."

"Come on," Alexis said tugging Kate by the hand outside the door. "We'll take them upstairs and sort them out there"

They moved quickly, each carrying five or six bags at a time to the top of the stairs. When they were all stacked at the top of the stairs Kate and Alexis separated the bags and took them to their own rooms.

"You know," Castle began as he watched Kate and Alexis sifting through the bags grabbing what was theirs. "There are about thirty bags there, if not more!"

"Girls like shopping, Dad, get used to," Alexis said as she rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"Yeah, Castle, get used to it," Kate said mimicking Alexis' eye roll and then winking at the girl who giggled. "I will pay you back though, I promise."

Castle waved Kate off, helping her move the remaining bags to her room and setting them on the bed with the rest.

"Oo, Victoria Secret, what's in here, Kate?" he said peeking into a bag that was lying on her bed.

Kate pushed Castle away from the bags, towards the door.

"Out, Castle, I have to get ready."

"I could help," he said giving her a wide smile.

"I'm sure you could," she said smirking at him before pushing him out the door and locking it.

She took a fast shower and carefully did her hair, making sure it was perfect. Next came her makeup. She carefully applied mascara and eyeliner before adding a little blush to her cheeks. She walked out into the bedroom and searched through the bags until she found the shirt and pair of jeans that she was looking for.

She smirked to herself in the mirror as she slipped the low cut red sweater over her head, picturing Castle's reaction. She slid on her brand new jeans loving the way they hugged her curves. She glanced at herself once more in the mirror before making her way back downstairs.

She met Alexis in the hallway, coming out of her own bedroom.

"You have to admit, Kate, my dad does have good taste in clothes," she said admiring Kate's outfit.

"Don't tell him I said so," Kate responded with a smile as they walked down the stairs together giggling.

Hearing their laughter, Castle came out of the kitchen where he had just finished ordering enough pizzas to feed a small army.

He couldn't take his eyes off Kate as she walked down the stairs with his daughter, laughing, seeming to not have a care in the world. She was absolutely stunning in his eyes.

Kate's eyes finally drifted over to Castle who was standing in a dress shirt and jeans. He was easy to look at, she couldn't deny that. She watched as his gaze wandered down the length of her body. She felt her cheeks blush slightly when he finally met her eyes.

"Both of you look absolutely gorgeous," he said making his way over to them and pulling Alexis into a one-armed hug.

Kate smiled at Castle, a real, genuine smile and he couldn't help but think he wanted to be the one to make her smile like that more often.

Their guests started arriving a short time later and they had a great time. There was absolutely no talk of the case. For once they were just a group of friends getting together, laughing and sharing funny stories and eating a ton of pizza.

When everyone had left and Alexis had gone up to bed, Kate and Castle started to clean up the mess they had made.

"Rick, why on earth did you order so much pizza?" Kate asked from the kitchen as she stacked the left over pizza into the refrigerator.

"Hey, I like left over pizza," he answered from the other side of the kitchen where he was placing empty soda cans and beer bottles into the recycling bin.

"Yeah, but this much?" Kate asked, gesturing into the fridge.

Rick laughed when he saw the stacks of pizza in the fridge. "Ok, so maybe I got a little carried away!"

"Just a little," she said shooting him a grin.

"You looked like you had a good time tonight," he said quietly as he walked towards her.

"I did have a good time," she said smiling at him again.

"I'm glad," he responded stopping to stand right in front of her. "And I'm also glad you let me buy you that shirt!"

Kate laughed softly, typical Castle. She watched as his expression turned more serious and he reached to brush a stray piece of hair out of her face.

He leaned down slowly, giving her a chance to push him away. Instead she stood up on her tip toes and threw her arms around his neck meeting his lips halfway. He kissed her softly, his hands moving to her waist to pull her closer to him. She pulled back slightly, leaning her forehead against his, looking into his eyes and smiled.

And then his lips were on hers again, this time more urgently.

When Rick pulled away, Kate looked at him questioning.

"Kate, your phones ringing," he said breathlessly.

Sure enough her phone was vibrating its way along his kitchen counter.

She sighed and picked it up, not bothering to look at the caller I.D.

"Beckett."

"Kate, it's Jordan."

"Jordan? Oh, Agent Shaw. What do you want? This isn't exactly a good time," she said coolly.

"I'm sorry, it's late, I know. I just wanted to apologize for before. I shouldn't have taken you off the case. If I were in your position I would want to be the one to find the psycho behind everything."

"Ok."

"And… well, I also need your help. I was wondering if I could run some things by you. I'm actually sitting in my car outside Castle's building right now if you wanted to come down," she said hesitating slightly.

"You want my help?"

"Like I said, I know I would be pretty determined to catch this person and I thought maybe you'd be able to see something that I've missed."

Kate thought about it for a minute, Castle staring at her motioning with his hands that she should go. That this was her chance.

"Fine," Kate said, finally. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Thanks, Kate. I'm sure you're going to make my job a whole lot easier."

"We'll see," Kate said before she hung up.

"I'm sorry," she said to Castle once she got off the phone.

"Don't worry about it. I'll be waiting for you when you get back," Castle said, raising his eyebrows at her.

"I'll be looking forward to it," she said playfully. "And if for some reason I'm not back in, say, half an hour, come get me will you?"

Castle laughed. "I will."

Kate gave Castle a quick kiss on the lips before walking out the door and towards the elevator. She tucked her phone into her new boots that she bought, not realizing that her new favorite jeans didn't have any pockets.

When she reached the door she saw Agent Shaw wave to her from her black S.U.V parked on the street.

Kate hopped into the passenger side on the vehicle and heard the locks click once she slammed the door shut. Kate suddenly felt uneasy about the whole situation and tried to open the door but the lock wouldn't bug.

She then turned and glanced at Agent Jordan Shaw put found that she was staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Thanks for coming, Kate. I told you that you would make my job a whole lot easier."

_Thanks for reading everyone! New episode starting in less then half and hour (Yay!) and while I wasn't able to quite finish this story I got to the part that I wanted to. I hope you enjoy reading what I have so far and I'll finish it up by the end of this week! I always look forward to reading your reviews! Enjoy! _


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